Baba Wawa

The heating pad helps disperse the CO2 gas they use to inflate your belly...it tends to migrate up into the right shoulder, but can hurt in a variety of places. My daughter just had a hysterectomy (da Vinci robotic assisted) and had the exact same pain in her right shoulder for the first week post-op. The heating pad should go where the gas pains are. For my incisions I found that ice helped with that discomfort. Just make sure to have a towel between the ice and skin. GasX helps with any air you might swallow drinking water or broth. Whatever you do walk as much as you can tolerate and keep sipping liquids...

The machine improved my sleep and my husband and I would say good night and "ready for liftoff" and laugh before I put the mask on. I slept like a baby and still do. What convinced me was the doctor telling me that "unexplained" post-op deaths were reduced from one in 100 to one in 10,000. It supports breathing during the time that we are recovering from general anesthesia, taking pain medications. Anesthesia and narcotic pain meds are respiratory depressants...the CPAP also helps prevent post-op pneumonia. My dad died of sleep apnea...just didn't wake up one morning. It was devastating. I would never want to put my family through that trauma.

Consuming more than 30% of your calories in protein CAN cause problems. If you're on 1200 calories, that is 360 calories/4 calories per gram = 90 grams per day.

I got my first fill at 3 months. My PA offered me the option of 5cc or less, I opted for 3 and that was great for about 6 months, when I had my second fill of .5cc. That was 15 months ago and I feel like I'm in a good place. My personal opinion is that less is better and aggressive fills can cause a lot of issues.

Ketosis from fat burning will give you bad breath

I was banded 2 yrs ago yesterday at 60 yrs old. I couldn't stand or walk more than 5-10 minutes because of back and knee pain. I've lost 72 lbs, would like to lose another 30-40 in the next year. I can walk 2 miles, go up and down stairs and enjoy cooking again, since I can tolerate standing and prepping. My Meds are reduced...I just had a stress EKG and my heart is healthy! For the first time in my adult life, I maintained weight loss without dieting for a year, and even though I'm the same weight, my clothes are looser than last year and I lost another half inch from my waist. I was a 26/4X pre-op and am 16/18 pants, 18/1X tops... There have been ups and downs, but all in all, the minor inconveniences are far outweighed by the improvement in my quality of life...also, having had several major surgeries over the years, I know that all surgeries have a common risk of complications, don't always return you to your former level of function and they are painful to a certain extent. I did have to have my gallbladder removed last fall, but had symptoms most of my adult life. food isn't as important to me anymore, but I do enjoy preparing our families favorite dishes and my enjoyment comes from their appreciation of my cooking. We just spent the weekend at my son's lake house and my 20 yrold granddaughter made the trip over just because "Nini's cooking rocks"! Life is good!

I was banded 2 yrs ago today at 60 yrs old. I couldn't stand or walk more than 5-10 minutes because of back and knee pain. I've lost 72 lbs, would like to lose another 30-40 in the next year. I can walk 2 miles, go up and down stairs and enjoy cooking again, since I can tolerate standing and prepping. My Meds are reduced...I just had a stress EKG and my heart is healthy! For the first time in my adult life, I maintained weight loss without dieting for a year, and even though I'm the same weight, my clothes are looser than last year and I lost another half inch from my waist. I was a 26/4X pre-op and am 16/18 pants, 18/1X tops...it's worth it.

If you are getting "that feeling", and a half cup of food satisfies you, you don't need a fill. Many people go months without a fill. To avoid getting the feeling of being stuck, make sure you are cutting food into pea-sized bites, take one at a time and chew it 15-25 times. Eat your dense Protein first, so if you have to stop eating, your protein requirement has been met. Congrats on your weight loss success so far!

Losing a lot of weight can cause gallstones to form. http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/gallstones.htm#weightloss Weight-loss dieting increases the risk of developing gallstones. People who lose a large amount of weight quickly are at greater risk than those who lose weight at a slower pace. Rapid weight loss may also cause silent gallstones (painless gallstones) to become symptomatic. Studies have shown that people who lose more than 3 pounds per week may have a greater risk of developing gallstones than those who lose weight at slower rates. A very low-calorie diet (VLCD) allows a person who is obese to quickly lose a large amount of weight. VLCDs usually provide about 800 calories per day in food or liquid form, and are followed for 12 to 16 weeks under the supervision of a health care professional. Studies have shown that 10 to 25 percent of people on a VLCD developed gallstones. These gallstones were usually silent—they did not produce any symptoms. About one-third of the dieters who developed gallstones, however, did have symptoms and some of these required gallbladder surgery. Experts believe weight-loss dieting may cause a shift in the balance of bile salts and cholesterol in the gallbladder. The cholesterol level is increased and the amount of bile salts is decreased. Following a diet too low in fat or going for long periods without eating (skipping Breakfast, for example), a common practice among dieters, may also decrease gallbladder contractions. If the gallbladder does not contract often enough to empty out the bile, gallstones may form. A drug called ursodiol that helps dissolve cholesterol in the bile may help prevent gallstones from developing during rapid weight loss. While ursodiol is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent gallstones, its “off-label” use (the practice of prescribing medications for periods of time or for conditions not FDA-approved) has been shown to be effective and safe. If rapid weight loss is highly likely, you should consider talking with your health care provider about using ursodiol.

I had pain just under the ribs on the right. It would last from a few minutes to several hours and nothing I did helped. I had an abdominal ultrasound and barium swallow and was scheduled for surgery the following monday morning. I had one large stone.

Call your doctor. I had gassy pains upper right abdomen last fall, it was my gallbladder.

Absolutely! It's elective surgery and all surgery carries risks, so it is normal to be anxious. I have had about 10 major surgeries and I was the most apprehensive about my banding, because I chose to do it. Try to think about how you are going to embrace your new lifestyle and your healthier body. This is the time to treat your body like a new baby, and your mind like an incorrigible teenager, lol. Best of luck to you!